Okanagan lake open for kokanee fishing

[platypus]

--After many years of being closed to kokanee fishing (at one time world record kokanee lake) Okanagan is now open as of April 1st with a 5 fish limit.
--This is bitter/sweet as numbers of shore spawn kokanee have increased to a point where fishing will be allowed. The creek spawn kokanee have stabalized but are not increasing. It is the creek spawn kokanee that product the larger fish we were so used to catching in the mid 1980's.
--The British Columbia Government has so far refused to allow hatchery supplementation of creeks that are no where near capacity.
--Expect to catch mostly under 12" but there have been fish caught 5-7 pound during the closure when people were targeting trout as it was not legal to fish for kokanee in the lake.
--I am certain there will be larger fish caught. The past two summers they had limited openings late season that were not popular and not well advertized thus very little fishing pressure.
--We need your help... get up here and fish...let the Government of BC know the value of a healthy kokanee fishery.

 

[platypus]

--we manage 5 spawn beds in penticton creek for Okanagan Kokanee.
--Just put fresh gravel in the first two as much of the gravel was washed away during this years high spring run off.
--fish ladders are in place to reach these beds and city of penticton is monitoring water flow levels to ensure enought water for returning kokanee.
--work on the beds is done by volunteers from Penticton Shooting Sports and Penticton Flyfishers... to date we have only required the use of the first two spawn beds. Our goal is to have enough fish returning to utilize all 5 beds. Sadley we are no where near that goal.
--we do own a hatchery and have funds and volunteers to run it however Ministry of forest lands and natural resources will not allow us to supplement this run and are content to let it happen on its own... this strategy has not resulted in any increase of returning fish in the last 15 years thus I would hope they will re-visit their approach.
--shore spawning kokanee have increased dramatically over this time period however creek spawning ( the larger fish we like to catch) are stable or declining and are at historically low numbers in all streams that drain into Okanagan.
--

 

[platypus]

--kokanee starting to show up in penticton creek.. if you're in area it is worth looking at the pools below the ladders and the spawn beds easy access. Decent size as well which often surprises those who fish the lake.

 

[platypus]

--kokanee showing up in penticton creek... slow but steady.
--possibility of re-opening our hatchery in 2013.
--the intent of the hatchery is to give a boost to the numbers of fish returning to penticton creek. over all there are enough fish in the lake to support an ongoing fishery however penticton creek numbers have remaind low.
--in okanagan stream spawners tend to be larger than the shore spawners which are now the majortiy.
--shore spawners have been steadily increasing withle stream spawners have been in delcine for several years.

 

[platypus]

--new pools created at foot of first two ladders on Penticton Creek... this will allow for kokanee holding area prior to ascent of the ladders. .. a few fish in there today.
--work on the creek continues to rehab it to allow for natural spawning of kokanee and rainbow trout from Okanagan Lk.
--Hatchery has been cleand up and ready to go but yet again not approval to rais kokanee for penticton creek.
--the hatchery will be partially used to raise kokanee for ellis creek that feed into Skaha and may be used in the spring for rearing of rainbows for Okanagan.


--Some area lakes are producing kokanee 3-6 lb range which is a pleasant surprise given that Wood lake and Okanagan are struggling this year.
--Have not seen much action on Skaha this year but I have only fished it a few days.

 

[platypus]

--new gravel added to the current kokanee spawn beds in Penticton Creek.
--fish ladders (removable) have been placed in ready for this years spawn event.
--a few fish starting to show up
--hatchery is ready and it appears some eggs will be collected from Penticton Creek spawning kokanee... should know in the next few weeks if enough fish return to allow taking of eggs.
--Note this hatchery is not intended for long term use but to be used on occasion to help build up a healthy population of kokanee that will return to Penticton Creek.

--Update... the Ellis Creek kokanee from the hatchery were succesfully released in to Ellis Creek (flows into Skaha) spring 2014 to imprint for return to Ellis. No eggs will be collected from Ellis this year. Again this was intended to boost or re-establish self sustaining runs.

 

[platypus]

--update... a small quantity of kokanee eggs have been collected from Penticton Creek for the hatchery. These are intended for Spring release into Penticton Creek...Okanagan lk.

 

[platypus]

--due to our warm weather this years November collection of kokanee from Penticton creek are up and swimming around thus will likely be released back into the creek.
--we raise these using water from an intake directly from the same creek they are going into. we like to get them into their home water before we have to feed them so that they mimic as close as possible the creeks natural cycle.
--I have been teaching them to follow some special home made lures so that when they get bigger they will strike only my lures (just kidding)

 

[platypus]

--more than 30,000 kokanee fry released over two days back into Penticton Creek, hopefully see a few in 4-5 years.

 

[platypus]

--Just over 3200 kokanee counted as they passed through the Penticton Creek fish trap.
--50K eggs were collected for the hatchery on the first day of the run. All other fish were released to carry on to the spawning beds.
--A little dissapointed with the size... no trophies. Some decent fish but other area lakes are producing larger and more fish. Will have to see what next years crop brings.

 

[platypus]

--due to warm weather some of the eggs have hatched... this could be an issue in the wild as we use same water from the creek in the hatchery .
--creek fish may be hatching as well... a long time before food will be available in spring.
--they can go quite a while without developing to the stage where they need to be fed... which we can do in the hatchery if required before spring release.

--just getting our first cold snap here so that should slow the development of remaining eggs.

 

[platypus]

--had to keep the kokanee at the hatchery longer than expected due to some early mortality. It was decided to raise the remaining healthy kokanee to a larger size to increase early survival. These should be released in the next week or two as, although we enjoy looking after these critters we want to get out fishing more.

 

[platypus]

--19000 kokanee released into Penticton Creek which feeds into Okanagan lake.

--A new development in Okanagan lake management... The Okanagan Nation will be releasing sockeye fry into a few streams that feed into Okanagan lake.
--This year the release is more of a symbolic and cerimonial as they stated they will release aprox 10000 in each of the selected streams.

--Okanagan sockeye would migrate through the columbia system.

 

[platypus]

--kokanee kill on Okanagan. don't know the extent yet. Reports from area fishers. Ministry is investigating.
--This happened a few years ago as well...don't know the details. The best case senario would be due to lightning which has been active in the area for several days.
--Other causes could be toxic algae or disease but to early to tell.

 

[platypus]

--Kill of kokanee was not deemed to have a significant impact on the okanagan kokanee fishery.
--no disease or toxins found in samples

 

[Bduck]

Was there any other theory of the kill beside possible lightning?

 

[platypus]

--I don't want to start a long string of guesses... the current theory is that it may be similar to turn over caused by winds driving warm surface water deeper into the lake.
--I will post something if the local Ministry puts out an official answer.

 

[platypus]

OKANAGAN - After getting lab results back, the province strongly believes a die-off of more than 1,000 kokanee salmon washed up on the shores of Okanagan Lake last month was part of a recurring, natural phenomenon.

Samples from more than 80 of the fish came back negative for disease or evidence of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus, which affected kokanee in Kootenay Lake in recent years, the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations tells iNFOnews.ca.

“Biologists can’t be 100 per cent certain about the cause of the recent die off, however it is strongly suspected this is a recurring natural phenomenon caused by summer time temperature inversions in the lake,” states a spokesperson.


--Note: this is copied from INFONEWS article with information recieved from Ministry spokesperson.

 

[platypus]

-- 1200 kokanee have passed through the trap on penticton creek to the spawn beds. A count in the creek has indicated 2000 fish.
-- During a rain and wind storm several large branches drifted into the fence and trap which caused a breach. As it seems a significant number of fish have bypassed the count we are pulling the trap and fence for this year.
--Encouraging to note there seemed to me to be a larger average size and more larger fish... than previous years.
--Maybe the recreational fishers aren't catching them... but hopefully it is because the run, although slow to build in total numbers is increasing in size.

 

[platypus]

fish trap picture